Sistema Sells Stakes in Oil Producer Russneft for $1.2 Billion

The buyers are companies controlled by investors Mikail Shishkhanov and Felix Dlin, Sistema said in a statement today.
As part of the agreement, Sistema has an option to buy stakes in
eight of Russneft’s exploration and production companies in the
Urals within three months.

“In just over three years since the acquisition of our
Russneft stake, Sistema has achieved an impressive return on our
investment,” Chief Executive Officer Mikhail Shamolin said in
today’s statement. “Russneft has transformed itself into one of
the leading and fastest-growing Russian upstream companies.”

Russneft, founded by Mikhail Gutseriev, who fled Russia in
2007 to avoid criminal charges that were later dropped, produced
about 100 million barrels of oil last year, according to the
company’s website. Glencore Xstrata Plc (GLEN) is Russneft’s largest
creditor and holds stakes in several of the company’s production
units.